I'm working for Rochelle today (from home). I'm trying to typeset a book from her. It's a bit of a tricky one, with lots of different sections, and getting it to work consistently on a page is proving a nightmare.

marielle - I hope you have time to take a breather before Christmas arrives so you can appreciate it. Yes, the car is worth it, but I wish the pain was optional!

Wow...it's been kind of a slow around here today, and I expect it will remain so as people start traveling for the holidays. It's very unusual for me to post on the same page of the thread that I posted my message last night.

I think someone already asked this, but what are everyone's plans for Christmas/the holidays? Our kids have a half-day of school Friday, the 21st, and we'll head straight to my in-laws that afternoon to celebrate Christmas with them. Unfortunately, it will be a very short visit as our choir program will be presented as part of the church service Sunday morning the 23rd, so we'll drive home Saturday evening. I'll probably work a half-day Christmas Eve, and we'll attend Christmas Eve service that night, have brunch and "Santa" with the kiddos here Christmas morning, and head to my Mom's early afternoon to celebrate with my family (my mom, brother and his wife and kids, as well as four other cousins and their famlies). I'll be working the rest of the week, but hubs will be off to spend time with the kids. I plan on taking a couple of days off work after New Year's to hang out with the kids before they go back to school January 7th.

I had the day off work again today, as our patient census continues to be somewhat low and we would have been overstaffed at work, otherwise. I really don't mind taking a few extra days off over the holiday season, and it allowed me to finish up with the bulk of my Christmas shopping and finally begin wrapping presents too.....not that we have a Christmas tree to put the wrapped gifts under just yet...... According to the auto body shop, our minivan is supposed to be ready for us Thursday, and then we should be able to pick out and transport home a tree. This may be the first year I have most of the wrapping finished before putting up and decorating our Christmas tree.

Lynne~ How did the difficult typesetting go for the book you mentioned? I can imagine that formatting those kinds of things can often be tedious. Are you still in the process of editing any of your books, or kind of in a holding pattern right now?

Desiree~ Was your son's yellow belt testing successful? Good for him being so active, and I bet he enjoys the classes. What kinds of tasks are involved when you volunteer at school?

Song~ My daughter wasn't too disapppointed about losing her team's games in the tournament. The girls have fun just hanging out together, and seem to enjoy that aspect of tournaments as much as they do playing in the games. It's so interesting how eating customs vary from country to country, and it's funny how your in-laws view dessert as part of their custom. I don't like to eat chocolate or things that are too sweet with my coffee, but love the taste of pumpkin bread or lemon poppyseed muffins with coffee (my expensive Starbucks toffee not latte, that is. ) I'm happy to share the cupcake recipe. They're called Killer Cupcakes, and the recipe is from a Junior League Cookbook I've had for years.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper cupcake liners (I used the pretty silver foil liners.) In the top part of a double boiler over simmering water, melt the chocolate with the vanilla and butter. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until thick and add the sugar. Beat in the flour. Fold in the butter-chocolate mixture once it has cooled slightly. Spoon into the prepared tins, filling the cups 2/3 full.

For the filling.....mix the softened cream cheese, sugar, egg, and salt until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop a rounded teaspoon of filling onto the top of each cupcake. Bake for 30 minutes. The recipe should make 20-22 cupcakes, but I always fill my cupcakes a little too full , and my batch made 17 cupcakes.

I made the cupcakes to take to work and they seemed to be a hit with everyone. They look kind of pretty with that little bit of cream cheese filling baked right onto the center of the cupcake....and there's no need for frosting. With five eggs and two pounds of butter they're obviously very rich, and not for the faint of heart.

Sean~ That's good news that you'll be working most of this week. What foods do you hope to pick up for Christmas dinner? Do you eat dinner with your immediate family, or other extended family members?

Marielle~ I'm so jealous that you'll have a few weeks off work, but you'll certainly need it to paint, pack, unpack, and hopefully get settled in to your new home comfortably. Will you try and recruit family members or friends to help with painting and moving? Happy early birthday to your brother.

Tracy - sounds like a busy time for you. How many days off do kids in America get at Christmas time? We'll be going to the Sunshine Coast from December 19-22, then we will come back. On Christmas Eve we will take Little Man, my parents, my brother and my in-laws out to see the Christmas lights displays on houses around about. On Christmas morning we will wake up early and open presents, before going to church. When we come back I will prepare the portion of our Christmas lunch that I am doing, then, about 11.00 am, we will go to my in-laws' place (probably picking up my parents and brother on the way) and have Christmas lunch with them. I'm not sure if we'll stay there or go home when we drop my family back home, but, in the evening, we will be back at my in-laws' place for dinner with her family.Yes, typesetting the book was a bit tedious, but I got it working in the end. And, for the first time, I was able to set up the page numbering myself! It has to be done a particular way with two different types of numbering systems and it tends to be a bit tricky.

Happy HUMP day.Well the news from my side of the world is that yesterday we signed the papers for selling our house… that was the second to last step into getting our new house… (I’m slightly freaked out actually).. hopefully next week we will be getting the key of our new house. (even more freaked out)…I’m really looking forward to it all but I’m still afraid that something happens that prevents us from getting the new house.

Last night here in Holland the Hobbit had it’s premiere. I couldn’t go at midnight. (can’t take a day off this week) but I’m really trying to see it ASAP. Maybe I’ll go tomorrow…otherwise I’ll go Sunday or Monday

Anyway posts,

Sean, you know that it’s quite normal for people to go through a 16/17 hour day without sleeping. Normally I get up at 6.15am and go to bed around 10pm. If I sleep in between I won’t be able to sleep properly at night. By normal standard I already go to bed early. Perhaps sleeping during the day isn’t helping you to get a good night’s sleep.

Susan, my brother had his bday last week but because he was still away for his work we couldn’t celebrate it properly. My mom just texted me that she got about 5 inches of snow over night. I take it your city got snow as well? I always have the week around Christmas and the first week of January off. This year is the first time I take a week extra.

Lynne, yes, I’m really needed the rest and time to calm down.. next week…

Tracy, the Christmas holidays start for me this Friday. I’m going to my family, has a ton of parties, do a bit of moving, paint etc and have more parties… As long as the Mayans were wrong I’ll have a busy Christmas.Hihi, maybe the mods should create a cooking thread for us to swap recipes… (Mods???)I think we would use it a lot.Yes, we are hoping to move before the new year so my dad can help driving with a trailer. He is the only one in our family with a license for that. Also my brother is at home so am hoping he’ll help with the heavy stuff. Besides that I’m probably faster doing it on my own than with a lot of people walking around.

Alright, I’m off… see you all later..

These violent delights, have violent endings...Like fire and gunpowder, they consume what they kiss

Finally!! I have time to post before my cell battery dies I spent today working and then car hunting online after I wrapped a few presents (which I had to Hunt down, as I hid them a bit too well from myself..oy.) I'm seeing a girlfriend tomorrow to exchange gifts and do a bit of shopping then Jason took the afternoon off so we can go car shopping since we found out I can only keep my rental until Monday! Somehow I don't feel like I can focus on the holiday until we're settled with all this but there's a very real chance I won't find another car until after Christmas! Work has been ramping up which I expected but it's still tiring.

Now, posts

Lynne- I dearly hope someone can watch Harry for you while you're gone. That's stressful, not knowing what to do with your dog. Your Christmas plans sound lovely! I wish more churches had a Christmas Day service here..some places have Christmas Eve services but since I work until 4pm that day I have no idea if we will have time to go or not. It always helps me focus on the true reason for the season!

Tracy-I love the idea of making my own ornaments, im hoping to get the pictures printed in a day or two. I think I'm going to eBay the Hallmark one though I found an awesome one at Target for a mere four dollars! I'll post a pic tomorrow. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels so strongly about my car- I will miss the beast! She's totaled and we're searching for a replacement. You sound busy

Song- Happy birthday!!! glad you got a 2nd BD viewing that's funny about your dessert, I'm with you where if I'm gonna do it, I want it to be amazing! Mmm sweets!

Susie- she may indeed be Bella2 or maybe Alice. Snow sounds very Chrismassy!

Marielle- I do live north but we're right in between the mountains and the ocean so we mostly get rain. If it snows though I realize I'm one of 2 employees that can make it into work so I'm hoping it doesn't.

Hopefully I didn't miss too many questions or responses, I should have time to check on my computer tomorrow evening good night all!

I slept in again tonight--I really have to stop doing that, even if it helps me get ready for work, because I miss out on so much. I might try and stay up today after work just to get back on track with the sleep schedule that I want. Of course, this is a carry over from last winter where I had to stay up all night to watch our wood stove. Someone had to do it, and it fell on me.

Songbird: I'm feeling OK, I guess, at least better than I have most of the past two weeks. But other than saying "hi" to people at work and answering the phone, I don't really interact with people very much, because most of the time I'm there, I'm stuck in my office. I usually on most days don't get beyond that, though I'm friends with one of my co-workers on FB, so I talk to her every now and then (something I want to start to do again--she was one of my first FB friends when I got my page years ago). And it's sort of a shame, because some of my co-workers are really friendly (well, most actually are), but it's hard to really talk to them when they're busy and they're in and out of my office.

Marielle: I did mention above that I've been on this screwed up sleep schedule since last winter. Watching the wood stove at night was a big part of it. But, also, I prefer being up at night because I have more privacy, there's actually some TV shows that I like to watch on, I write my stories better at night, and, for better or worse, I'm a night person. My problem is that when I get off a sleep schedule, it's as hard as hell for me to get back to where I want to be. I'm only just starting to get back to where I want to, that's why I might force myself to stay awake for at least a while after work today, so that a nap doesn't turn into something that doesn't mess up my sleep deal any more than it already is.

Tracy: Christmas dinner is usually immediate family only. The only stuff I have to get tomorrow is a turkey, maybe a ham, and a couple of things for me that I forgot today. I know that it may be a bit early to get a turkey, but the longer we wait, the quicker the really good ones go.

Anyone I missed: Hi!

Everyone: Now that the wood stove is going, I'm gonna try and keep it going for a while, but I still want to get to bed by about 5:00 or 6:00--while it's still dark. Hopefully that will start to get me back on track with what I want to do sleep wise now. It would also be easier if it wasn't so friggin' cold out. I did also buy some beef broth so I can make beef and noodles later this week, to go with my left over gravy from the other night.

I'll also try and finish my story chapter tomorrow night and make that beef and noodles thing. My main concern tonight is just to finish up here and get to sleep early if I can.

I'm bummed! Pitch Perfect isn't in theaters anymore...they showed a trailer for it before Breaking Dawn on Saturday, but I looked and it's not playing in my theater. So there goes my idea for using my gift certificate I got from work. Maybe I'll give it to hubs so he can see the Hobbit instead. The good news is that Pitch Perfect is supposed to be out on Blueray and I would assume also DVD on December 18th, so maybe I can rent it then.

Desiree, good luck to your son with the testing! What did you get to do in helping his class?Lynne, how did the typesetting go? Did you get it done?

Tracy, if we weren't both married, I would propose...that recipe looks SOOOOO yummy. I'm going to try it out as tomorrow is cake day! Thank you!!I hope your minivan is back soon! We're setting up our Christmas tree tonight...Bug has been asking for a week when we are setting it up.

Marielle, I'm sure it's scary right now, but once it's over with you will look back on it and wonder why you were so nervous about it. Well, my brother STILL hasn't even wished me a happy birthday yet and my birthday was Sunday. You at least are thinking of your brother even if you couldn't celebrate with him yet. Do you know what you'll get him?Yes, it snowed here over night and snowed for a few hours this morning. The kids had a snowball fight on the way to school today. They are loving it.

Sarah, good luck with car shopping! Do you each have a car then? We did in the states, but over here it's too expensive to do that, so we just have the one car and I don't have a license here. Will you get to pick your own car? I hope it doesn't take too long to find one you like!

Sean, sure, you may not get to interact a whole LOT, but it's better than nothing, and you just seem happier. Good luck with your sleep schedule!

I'm not looking forward to today, as I have to go and have a particular kind of checkup done which is not very pleasant (I won't talk about which kind it is, as there are males present). They're pretty sure there isn't a problem, but it's possible there might be, so I am very nervous. It's another thing for me to worry about.

marielle - I'm glad things are progressing with the house switch! Don't worry, I'm sure nothing will stop you from taking possession of your new house!

Sarah - yes, Christmas Day services are more popular here than Christmas Eve ones, although we have those too. I'm glad you were able to get some Christmas shopping done.

Sean - I'd say your body needs sleep, so just let it if it doesn't make you late for work.

Songbird - That's odd. Has it been removed because it flopped? I thought it looked interesting. Yes, I did get the typesetting done, and it seems to have worked quite well.

Well, we did it! Found me a safe, reliable car for a bit higher than what we got for the other car, but it's newer and cuter..we ended up with a very small car payment, but it all works out financially when we figured it out, praise God! Such a relief, as I never realized how much I depend on having a car-I run lots of errands for Jason's Dad, whom I work for during the tax season, and for Jason in general..not mention the dog walking I do for my best friend...lol I tend to keep busy even though I work part time.

Song-yeah, I bought my car before we got married since I needed one and now we work opposite schedules, though not as bad as it was when I worked at Target. I had a say in this car, since I'm the one driving it, but I also knew what sort of budget I was working with per Jason. It's a relief to have it done. Oh and Pitch Perfect is about to be released to DVD here in the next few weeks so that's probably why it's not in theaters. I'm looking forward to seeing that as well!

Lynne-yep, I'm nearly done now! Two more stores to hit for three people and we're done! And ick, I hate girly check ups. My sympathies!

Marielle-anything that's new is scary, but just trust yourself that you're making a good decision Good luck getting everything done!

Well, my sleep solution seems to be working so far. I'm a bit tired, but that's to be expected while I'm trying to adjust.

I'm also a bit ticked right now. Tonight, my brother and I had to go out to Best Buy to buy a new mouse for my laptop, because we thought the one I was using was dying because online we read that when the red light on the charge indicator blinks red, it's about to die. So we bought a cheap mouse at Best Buy for about $43 dollars, only to find that the old mouse charged up and is now working fine!

At least we have a back up, but possibly when my current mouse dies, I might have the money to just buy a new one of them. Might be a waste, but maybe not.

And it's been almost vacant here today. I know that Caryn wanted to post here, but she was like me this morning--splitting headache, not feeling well, wanting to hide from virtually all light and noise. However, mine was just a major sinus headache that got better after I took a couple of pills and got some sleep before work, and I was fine all day. Caryn posted on the FB page that she had a migraine. I don't know exactly how she felt, but I could tell you that I felt like vomiting and could hardly stand the pain of it. That's why I wish that the weather would figure out what the hell it wants to do, because pressure changes and temp changes do a number on me big time. And I sort of know what migraines are like--my mom used to get them real bad.

I still haven't gotten the turkey yet for Christmas, because of a change of plans. We decided instead, after my brother talked to my mom today, that we'll get 2-3 turkey breasts instead of one large turkey--it'll probably cost the same and we'll get more meat and broth out of them. Well get that stuff tomorrow after work. I did get my egg nog today, and it's pretty good--tastes like liquid spice whipped cream.

Now, tonight, I do plan on finishing chapter 2 of you know what finally, though I still plan on going to bed early so I can get some rest before work tomorrow.

I'm surprised that it hasn't been more active here, but it's a Wednesday, and it's the middle of the work week and it's getting close to Christmas, so if you've been busy with that stuff, I understand.